Major investment programme at Archwood

Published: 11 March, 2015

Archwood, which operates under the Richard Burbidge, Masons Timber Products and Atkinson & Kirby brands, is investing in a new group commercial centre and improved centralised warehousing and distribution operations, to deliver further service improvements to customers nationwide.

The new plans will see a significant expansion of a national distribution centre, based in Oswestry, where the company has already a made substantial investment and created 25 new jobs in the past 12 months.

The centre will now distribute the Atkinson & Kirby flooring and moulding ranges, as well as Richard Burbidge branded products. This will lead to the closure of a smaller facility in Ormskirk. The investment plans also include the opening of a new group commercial centre in Chester, bringing together the commercial teams from Oswestry, Ormskirk and London into a modern, efficent facility.

The group’s primary manufacturing site remains at Chirk where, over the past three years, it has made significant investment in its production capability with the creation of 115 new jobs.

“This is the next phase in the development of Archwood, as a £50m leader in the timber home improvement market,” said Archwood’s group chief executive Steve Underhill. “We have defined brands and product ranges serving clear market sectors, and now, by consolidating into group centres, we can create operating efficiencies and improved customer benefits.

“The significant investment in our group distribution centre in Oswestry will simplify our supply chain and improve the service offering to our customers across the group. Increasing the focus of our commercial functions and bringing them together in one location gives us an excellent platform for future growth and will increase opportunities to deliver innovation across the brands, as well as providing a more creative office environment for our team.”

Subject to employee consultation, the proposed developments are due for completion by September 2015.

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